Bhubaneswar, Aug 27 : Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jagannath Pradhan, on Tuesday, withdrew his nomination filed for Rajya Sabha polls.

'As a disciplined worker of Bharatiya Janata Party, I have successfully discharged the responsibility the party had assigned to me. I would like to thank my party leaders for giving me the responsibility,' Pradhan told media persons here.

Pradhan asserted that as per the instructions of the party, he had filed the nomination papers and is now withdrawing them. The senior leader also stated that it was BJP's internal strategy to field him as a candidate. He also thanked the party for selecting him to be a part of this planning.

Notably, Pradhan had contested the recently concluded 2024 general elections from the Bhubaneswar Central Assembly seat but lost to Biju Janata Dal's Ananta Narayan Jena by only 37 votes.

Just a few hours after BJP leader Mamata Mohanta filed her nomination on August 21, Pradhan too filed nomination papers for the byelections for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Odisha. He had filed the nomination as an independent candidate.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature for the Rajya Sabha polls is August 27 while the byelection for the lone Rajya Sabha seat is scheduled to be held on September 3.

It is pertinent here to mention that the Rajya Sabha seat in Odisha has been lying vacant after Mamata Mohanta resigned from the membership of the upper house on July 31, two years before the end of her term in Rajya Sabha.

The BJP leader also tendered her resignation from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal on the same day. She joined BJP at the party's headquarters in New Delhi the next day.

Mohanta, a noted social activist and leader of the Kudumi community, belongs to Mayurbhanj district in Odisha.

BJP, on August 20, announced Mohanta's candidature for the byelections for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Odisha.

/IANS